-Lost and found-
by TeaKnight
Summary: Flippy has been called back to war, leaving Flaky alone for two long years. When news comes of his disappearance, Flaky is heartbroken and waits desperately for a sign that he might be alive. When a mysterious note arrives, Flaky sets off on a mission to find him but when she does is she prepared for what is to come and what the consequences of her actions might be? Accepting OC's.
1. Chapter 1: Missing in action

Peering inside the mailbox, hazel eyes sparkle with childish hope as Flaky peers inside only to have her hope dashed to pieces when she finds that it is empty save for a spider which had decided to take residence in there.

Shutting the small, metal door of her mailbox; Flaky stares at her feet for a long while, unmoving from that spot. Tears threaten to make an appearance, as they always do, but she bites them back.

Petunia, walking on the road with Handy, notices Flaky standing dumbly in front of her house. "What's wrong?" Handy asks, trying to see whatever it was that his girlfriend was looking at but due to his hard hat falling in front of his eyes, his view is too obscured to make proper sense of what her line of sight is viewing. Petunia's blue eyes grow soft with pity, staring sidelong at her red headed friend as they cross the road. Handy jerks his head, managing to shift his hard hat away so he can see and when his light brown eyes land on the familiar ghost of someone that they used to know, they fill with melancholy. "She still hasn't gotten a letter.." Petunia mutters, slowly peeling her eyes away from her pitiful friend and resting them on Handy. He nods knowingly, well aware of what it was that Petunia meant. They hold each other's gaze for a moment, just in that moment overwhelmingly grateful that they don't have to suffer what Flaky is currently going through before they avert their gazes. They both glance at Flaky once more, each silent in their own clouds of pity and worry for their old friend before they disappear around the street corner, holding each other- as best as they can with Handy's handicap- as they walk away from the sad sight.

Flaky however stands in her spot in front of her mailbox for what feels like hours, waiting to hear the sound of Lumpy's mail truck coming up the road but nothing of that sort ever happened. At least, not in the way that she wanted it to. She knew in the back of her mind already that there would be no mail for her today. Or tomorrow, or the day after that. Yet, she still waited like a puppy for it's owner- needless loyalty and ignorant obliviousness.

A few tears leak from her eyes and she hastily wipes them all away with the back of her sweater sleeve, both of her small hands clenching into weak little fists. Frustration and sorrow overwhelm her, racking her body with shudders of pent up rage and despair.

It had been two years, two bloody long years, since Flippy had been called back out to war.

It had been two years since she last saw him.

It had been one year since she last heard from him.

It had been six months since she had heard that he was missing in action.

It had been three days since she had started to give up hope.

Letting out a deep sigh, Flaky takes one last glance up and down the road for any sign of the illusive mail truck but since it is nowhere in sight she casts her eyes downward once more and shuffles back into her house.

Inside is very dark, highly contrasting to the way it had been before- before Flippy disappeared. Flaky rarely ever left the house, usually she spent her time sitting in the living room watching old re-runs of foreign soap operas. At least, that's what she did when she wasn't sitting outside by the mailbox waiting for a sign- any sign at all, that Flippy was alright.

The letter explaining his disappearance hasn't been too detailed. It had a simple "We regret to inform you that... Is missing in action." Blah, blah, blah "we do not know where their current whereabouts are but we assure you that we will do the best that we can to locate them."

All Flaky really knew about this war and Flippy's disappearance was that the conflict had begun when a successor had taken over the position of General Tiger. They had threatened the Government with a threat of an atomic bomb and now troops were being sent out to try to stop this new successor and his army. Flippy had disappeared whilst at a gun fight in a small no man's land, hundreds of miles away. The only reason why they listed him under M.I.A was because no body was ever found after the shoot out was over. Unless they had taken his body with them, which was highly unlikely, his body should have been there so the government assumes that he and his unit were taken hostage by enemy soldiers. Which meant that there was still a possibility that he was alive. That possibility however becomes a probability when remembering that Flippy is a Lieutenant General so it was highly possible that the enemy took him hostage because he was a higher ranking officer...or because they thought they could use Fliqpy to their advantage- which would be a horrible mistake to make.

Shutting the door with a soft click behind her, Flaky drags herself to the kitchen and grabs a small carton of milk from the fridge and she takes a big gulp. As she is tossing the now empty, carton of milk into the trash; Flaky catches her reflection in her kitchen window and grimaces.

She was not at all like how she used to look.

Her cheeks had hollowed in, making her look far frailer than she had before. She is also much thinner, bordering dangerously close to anorexia. Dark bags haunt beneath her eyes which have gone from a beautiful hazelnut brown to a washed out muddy colour. Her skin is pale, as though she hasn't been in the sun for ages which was partially true however.

She hated it. How she looked, how she acted- everything. Ever since he had left it was like a part of her heart was taken too and when she found out he had disappeared well- her heart might as well have stopped beating.

Flaky turns, prepared to return to her nest of blankets on the couch when something crashes through the kitchen window. Flaky lets out a terrified scream and immediately drops to the floor with both arms covering her head as a rain of glass falls to the ground around her, some of it scratching her hands as they land on her clothes and hair. She waits, at least- she tries to but with the paranoia gnawing at her, Flaky is only able to stay down for about ten seconds before she is up and desperately trying to get the glass off of her and do something to cover up the gaping hole in her window. She stares at her window with wide eyes, her knees buckling as her legs tremble beneath her. Who in the world would do this? Flaky stares outside but there is nothing there, just an empty street with a faulty streetlight which keeps on flickering. Turning around, Flaky is about to go to her garage to grab some wood to barricade the broken window with when something catches her eye.

A rock with a piece of paper tied to it with a small piece of string.

Ignoring the glass all around her feet, Flaky rushes to it- ripping the string off and unfolding the tattered paper with trembling fingers. Even though the bottoms's of her feet are cut and bleeding she pays no mind to it and scans the letter as quickly as possible. Her breath hitches in her throat when she reads the scrawled letters hastily written along the middle.

_"He's alive,  
Don't worry.  
We won't be coming home."_

Flaky stares at the sheet of paper for a long, long time with disbelieving eyes. He was alive? He was alive! He was alive and out there somewhere, he was alive! Her heart soars in her chest as tears fall freely from her eyes. "T-thank goodness- oh, thank goodness!" She sobs, hugging herself tightly so as to hold in all the feelings overwhelming her. After the overwhelming feeling of relief has past, Flaky is able to absorb the last line of the message- they won't be back? Who was the "We" in the sentence? Flippy and a fellow soldier? Flippy and Fliqpy? What if this was just a hurtful prank pulled by someone to make her believe that Flippy was okay?! The thoughts reel in her head, making her dizzy with confusion and doubt.

She had to make sure he was okay- he had to know that he was actually alive and she wasn't about to let some stupid piece of paper tell her something that might not be true.

She had spent months, waiting for an answer. Some sort of sign that there might be a possibility that he was alive. She had prayed to the heaven's above for the smallest of signs and well, this was it. This was her sign. This was her proof that there might be a chance that Flippy was alive somewhere. That he wasn't dead, killed off by some foreign soldiers. This was what she had been waiting so long for, just this small piece of paper with hasty writing.

Her hands tighten on the frail sheet of paper, already weakened by the damage of her previous tears. A spark of determination flashes through her eyes, something that was very seldom done with her, as she comes across the sudden realisation of what she has to do.

If the army wouldn't find Flippy, she would have to go and find him herself.


	2. Chapter 2: Enlisted

Despite the previous determination she had the night previous, Flaky could feel all of that disappear the moment she stepped in front of the military office. Her knees were beginning to tremble, her arms wrapping themselves around her small frame protectively.

Crap.

Taking a deep breath in, she shakes her head to clear herself of her doubtful thoughts. This was for Flippy. This was so she could go out and find him...right?

Clenching her hands into two tight fists on either side of herself, Flaky walks towards the door and opens it with timid fingers. Inside there are several people, all of them with highly intimidating atmosphere's about them.

Flaky gulps, entering the room and grabbing a number from the stand beside the door she peers at the small red 42 before sitting down as far away from anyone else as possible. Her hazel eyes travel from her lap, to her number then slowly around the room- absorbing her surroundings.

To her right was an oddly lanky man, he has bright blue hair and off putting emerald hues. His clothes look too big for him and he, like her, has dark bags underneath his eyes as though he hasn't slept in days.

To her left is another man, this one with light bleached blonde hair. His blue eyes keep shifting from side to side anxiously as though he were terrified of something that was to happen- or already happened. He has his paper crumbled into a small ball in his hands which he continuously unfolds and re-crumbles in a repeated cycle.

Across the isle from her, at her furthest left is a woman- the only other girl in this small room- she has silver hair and brilliant crimson eyes. An albino. When the woman feels Flaky's eyes on her she sends the poor girl a heated glare warning her to avert her gaze, which she does.

The final person in the room is the receptionist who sits behind the counter with absolute boredom. He has the phone pressed to his ear as he writes on a notepad with the other. "Yeah, yeah- and the name is..?" The man says, his voice much higher pitched than Flaky had initially imagined for it to be. His head shift and his long black hair falls in his face which he hastily brushes to the side.

On a small screen above the door it says: "serving number 39" and to this Flaky sighs. Only a few more numbers to go before it was her turn- her turn to sign up for the army.

The thought sends horrid chills up and down her spine, tendrils of fear clawing at her heart with the mere thought of her being part of something like the military. She didn't know if she it in her, to be in the military; she didn't even know if she had it in her to hold a gun in her hands, she didn't know if she had the courage to take a life. But this was all for Flippy. This was so that she could try and find him, to make sure that he was alright and alive somewhere.

Turning her head to the side, Flaky looks at her reflection in the window. Her hair is too long, she looks too weak- too innocent.

'But I'm used to death- right? I lived in Happy Tree Town for goodness sakes! I've seen more death than anyone on any battlefield! I've died more times than I can even count so why- why am I so scared?' Flaky thinks, tears starting to pool in her eyes.

The woman, the albino one, is now playing with a knife. She twirls it around and around in her fingers with a level of elegance and skill that Flaky cannot even begin to fathom. Again, the woman sees Flaky looking at her an sneers. "What're you lookin' at?" She barks. Flaky let's out a small whimper, shaking her head vigorously as well before reverting her gaze to her lap.

Wait a minute...Flaky's eyes go wide as the thought dawns on her. Abruptly standing up, Flaky hastily walks over to the woman. "U-um..." She starts before pointing with a shaking finger at the knife. "M-may I b-b-borrow tha-hat...?" Flaky asks. The woman gives her a funny look, as though that were the most idiotic question in the world but after a few moments she shrugs. "Just bring it back when yer done." The woman says, holding the blade handle out for Flaky to take.

With a small mutter of gratitude, Flaky disappears into a small door beside the waiting room that had been labelled as the bathroom. Inside, it is filthy. The mirror is half shattered, reflecting hundreds of her own face back at her. Along the walls are are stains, what of she doesn't want to know.

Leaning against the Porcelin sink, Flaky stares into her own eyes in the reflection for a few moments before he grip on the blade's handle tightens. Slowly and tentatively taking a chunk of her red, dandruff ridden hair she slices at it with the knife.

It falls away easily, leaving her with a fist full of her own hair now severed from the rest. Dumping that in the trash next to the toilet, Flaky grabs another chunk and slices that away as well. Slowly, she cuts it all off- leaving herself with nearly nothing when compared to her hair amount from before. Staring at herself with a perplexed, childish wonder; Flaky frowns. If it weren't from her clothes and the very small differences in her body shape- she would have looked like a boy. A very frail boy, might she add.

Brushing her bangs to the side and picking out as much loose hair as she can, she decides that this is enough and taking the knife with her she returns to the reception room. "Now taking number 42." A voice overhead says. Flaky feels a small ghost of a smile form on her lips, right on time. Crossing the room, she returns the knife to a very surprised looking Albino and following the secretary she walks down the hall with a newly found confidence. Her chin held a little higher then when she had first walked in.

Stopping her at a door, the receptionist mutters a gruff "good luck." Before disappearing back down the hall in whence they came. Suddenly feeling nervous again, Flaky waits a moment before hesitantly knocking on the door. "Come in." A voice calls from the other side. Gulping, Flaky slowly turns the metal doorknob and with a creak the door opens.

Inside the room it is oddly sparse and incredibly neat. Along the walls are photographs of men and some women all of them are clad in their nation's military uniform. Above the door behind her is a proudly hung, worn down flag which looks as though at some point it was burnt due to the black streaks along its edges. Behind a mahogany desk in front of her sits a very big man. He has piercing dark eyes, whether they were brown or black Flaky couldn't tell. His hair, white with old age, is slicked back and half hidden under a barrette which is very similar to the one that Flippy would always wear. "Hello there. Please, take a seat." The man says. Flaky nods and very shyly slips into the seat across from him. On a small golden plate on his desk reads: W. Adams. "So you are interested in joining the army I am guessing?" The man, Mr. Adams, asks. His voice showing nothing but an emotionless, bored tone. "Y-yes sir.." Flaky says, trying to force herself not to mutter. "You're timid- that's not good." He points out, a gloved hand reaching across the deal for a slip of paper and a pen. "You are over the age of eighteen, correct?" He asks, looking at her over the rim of his glasses with a hasty look. Flaky nods, a cold sweat beginning to drip in a slow bead down the side of her face. "Y-yes sir.." She says. He hands her the sheet of paper, the pen following a few moments later. "This is your application, please fill that out in the reception room and take another number. You'll be called back momentarily." Mr. Adams says. Flaky nods again, taking the sheet and the pen before slowly exiting the room and returning down the hall to the reception room.

Slinking into one of the empty seats, she absently notes that the lanky boy with blue hair is gone now. Maybe he left, maybe he was in the washroom- either way she didn't really care. Looking over the sheet, Flaky slowly fills it out- careful to make sure that everything is as neat and proper as possible. When she gets to the bottom of the page she freezes.

All that was left was the signature.

All she had to do was sign it and then she could join the military- she could look for Flippy, just as she had intended to do.

All she had to do was sign it.

All she had to do was...

Her hand tenses and freezes, the tip of the pen hovering just over the surface of the paper. Forcing back all of her discomfort, Flaky takes a shuddering breath inwards. Squeezing her eyes shut, Flaky quickly scrawls her signature along the line.

It was done.

Taking another number from the stand beside the door, Flaky's entire body shins to tremble as she waits for her number to be called again. Why this was so nerve wrecking she had absolutely no idea.

After what seems like an eternity, her new number- 47- is called and making her way back down the lean hallways she holds the paper tightly in her shaking hands. She drops the pen and in a fit of nervousness she bends over and picks it up before scurrying back down the corridor. Stopping in front of Mr. Adam's door, she knocks again as she had done earlier. "Come in." The familiar voice drifts and with a shudder, she enters.

Upon entry, Flaky hands Mr. Adam the paper which he looks over in a matter of mere seconds. He nods, approving the application. The older man reaches into his desk, pulling out a barrette similar to the one on his head although much less worn down. Handing the hat to Flaky, Mr. Adam nods. "Congratulations," he starts as Flaky slowly puts the cap onto her head "You are now registered for the army. You start training in two days."

[A/N]

Hello! Thank you for reading the second chapter of Lost and found! I know it's a bit slow and kind of poorly written, but thank you anyways for the support! Anyways, I am writing this author's note because I have something that I need help with. I need some OC's for my story, as they will appear in either the next chapter or the chapter after.

So, if any of you wonderful people wouldn't mind lending me your OC's please send me a PM with the character sheet below filled out:

**Name:**

**Age:**

**Height:**

**Weight:**

**Hair:**

**Eye:**

**Skin:**

**Personality:**

**History:**

**Skills:**

**Hobbies:**

**Reason for joining the army:**

Sorry, but I'll only be accepting a few OC's so if yours doesn't make it I am very sorry! I will probably only accept about 5/6 but then again, I'm pretty fickle so that number may become bigger. Anyways, thank you guys again and I'll see you all next chapter!


	3. Chapter 3: Training begins

The car ride to the actual military training base is the longest of Flaky's life. Within the rusty, old white truck there is no sound save for the low rumble of the engine and an occasional shuffling from the other passengers. The truck is filled with other trainees, all of whom will be in her unit once their training period ends.

There are only five other people in the truck, excluding herself and the driver. Amongst the five there are two other females, leaving only three males amongst them.

When Flaky had first gotten picked up from her house, she had been terrified. It got to a point where she almost couldn't bring herself to get into the truck. After entering, she felt much worse. The atmosphere around them was heavy with tension, there was no talk amongst them and everyone seemed so solemn... Well, it was probably how it should be. They were going to war after all.

Sitting beside her, to the right is a tall man. He is a very quite and almost unnervingly still. If Flaky didn't know better she would have though of him as a statue. His jet black hair is covered by his military barrette, the shadows of which mask his face. She takes note however, of his brilliant violet eyes- they stare ahead as though nothing else were important. As though forward was the only direction he needed to look.

Sitting to her left is one of the only other females in the unit. She has light, strawberry blonde hair which has been tied back into a tight ponytail. Her eyes are shut, giving of the appearance that she is sleeping but Flaky assumes it might be an act. The girl is small, even smaller than her and that was saying something! As though sensing Flaky's eyes on her, the other girl opens hers. They are a bright emerald hue and when the girl glances over at her, she does not look amused at all.

Flaky quickly looks away.

Sitting on the other bench are three equally intimidating looking. The first is another tall male, he is a lanky man and his uniform clings to his body oddly because of this. His eyes, staring down at his shoes, match his hair almost perfectly. They are the same shade of bark on a warm summer day and Flaky finds herself liking this immensely.

Beside him is another man, he is shorter than the first two but not by much. His hair is a total mess, even more so than the brown haired fellow. His hair is a sunny orange and Flaky half expect for him to have freckles to match but much to her disappointment he does not. He glances over at her with dark, stormy blue eyes and Flaky finds herself averting her gaze again quickly for the second time in the past five minutes.

The final person and the third girl is another small one. She is curled up in the corner of the bench, holding her elbows in a protective way. In a sense if reminds Flaky a bit of herself and she wonders if this is how she looks to other people. The girl has black hair as well, tied into two twin tails that hang on either side of her head. The black softly transitions into green, something that Flaky takes note of as well, impressed by it's unique look. The girl has bright eyes, shining green hues that look soft with melancholy.

Flaky takes note that this girl has her dog tags clenched tightly in her fist rather than leaving them to hang around her neck.

It sort of bothered her- that in a few weeks time they would have to fight for each other's lives yet right now, in this moment, no one even wanted to talk to each other. How was she supposed to trust these people with her life?

They would begin their training and after a week or two, depending on how long their training would take, they would move up to red phase, then white and finally blue. After that, they would be deported for war- then- then she could find Flippy. It was only ten weeks, right? Only ten...

"Hey-" a voice from beside her starts. Flaky jumps at the sudden noise, instinctively wrapping her arms around herself protectively. "Y-yes?" Flaky asks, turning to look at the black haired man. "Is your name Angel by any chance?" He asks, looking at her through half lidded eyes. "N-no... It's Fla-F-Flaky." She replies, confusion clouding her mind. Did she look like someone he knew?

The man looks at the floor of the truck with a disappointed look. "Oh- sorry..." He mutters, making no further attempts to talk to her. Flaky sighs, turning away from him as well.

It comes as a great relief when the truck comes to an abrupt stop, sending more than one of them jerking forward.

They'd arrived.

The back doors of the truck open with a loud creak and burst of bright light. Flaky raises her hands to cover her eyes from the light which sting them harshly. In front of the door is a dark shadow, outlined only due to the sun from outside. "Soldiers!" The person barks, stepping forward and into the truck. Flaky gasps at the loud noise, her heart picking up pace to match.

The man has his hands held professionally behind his back, chin held high as he stares all of them down. "As of today you will be under my care, we will train hard each and every day. Anyone who has any complaints-" the man cuts off, a haughty grin spreading across his cheeks. "They can deal with the consequences. Now, stand up! We begin training as of now. You are to do twelve laps around the track before dinner, anyone who hasn't completed their twelve will do an extra seventeen. Is that understood?"

Flaky inhales sharply, accessing him within her mind. His hair is slicked back and tucked underneath his barrette although some of the blonde is still visible despite this. His military uniform looks old, well used and is adorned with a number of impressive looking medals. His eyes, stern and unmoving, looks at them all with a mix of disappointment and amusement.

The small group shuffles, slowly standing up and assuming a pose similar to the man before them. "Sir, yes, sir." They chant, some of their voice louder than others. "You!" the man barks "name?" The blonde girl squeaks, her cold demeanour vanishing instantly. "T-Tiny." She mumbles. The man nods, turning his gaze to the light brown haired man. "Dwight." He mutters. Before the man can even ask the black and green haired girl smiles softly "Tweak." From beside her, the black haired man grumbles "Ramses." Next is the orange haired man, who is standing up very straight, "Riddles." He says. That inly left her and she could feel the pressure of all their eyes on her. "Uh- F-Flaky." she says and immediately the tension fades. "Well then.." the man starts, he puffs his chest out a little to make himself look bigger, "If you understand then start." The man says, standing to the side so that they may get past him and outside. They all hurry past him, some of them tugging their barrette's onto their heads as they do. Flaky just pulls hers down more so that it covers more or her, now short, hair. As they start, the man grins at them. His voice comes out in a roar as he barks at them:

"By the way, My name is General Feisty and starting today _you all belong to me."_

...

Twelve laps hasn't sounded too hard until Flaky had actually started. The track was much longer than she had anticipated. At minimum it was two kilometres and if that wasn't bad enough the sun beating down on them was torture. It was moments like these where Flaky regretted not taking Flippy on his offer to go running on Saturday mornings.

Flaky's legs are killing her by the third lap, her chest heaving as she struggles to breathe. The only reassuring thought was that she wasn't the only one struggling. The orange haired man, Riddles, appeared to be struggling as well. The others however seemed to be doing this without a problem. Flaky was certain that the purple eyed one, Ramses had lapped her at least twice by now.

Sweat drips down the side of her cheek in a lazy trail, cutting a line of clean skin amongst the dirt that had gotten on it from the dusty track. She feels an ache in her throat, desperate for water. She watches as Ramses runs beside Tiny, the blonde haired girl from before. He seems to say something to which she disagrees, she says something in return and just like he had done with her, looks away with disappointment plaguing his entire form. He says something else to Tiny before running ahead.

Flaky wonders if he asked her the same question from before.

Beside her the black haired girl, Tweak, runs by, her small arms pumping to drive her body forward. Flaky notices that she is the only one who has their military coat on still and she wonders why until she sees the jacket's sleeve lift up slightly with the movement. Along Tweak's wrists are bandages, they look old and in need of changing. At first Flaky panics and wonders if Tweak needs some medical assistance but then the thought dawns on her as to why there would even be cuts on the girl's wrist in the first place.

Flaky watches as the girl runs out of her sight.

By the sixth lap Flaky is dying. She wasn't even running anymore but instead she is just dragging herself forward. "Are you okay?" A voice from her left asks. Flaky turns to meet light brown eyes which reflect herself back to her. This boy- what was his name? Flaky feels awful for not remembering- wait- Dwight! That was his name! "Y-yeah..." Flaky replies, licking her incredibly dry lips. "You don't look it-" Dwight argues, his brow knit in concern. "I'm fine, really." Flaky insists. The man doesn't look like he believes her but with a slight shrug, he drops the subject. "Alright then..." He says and with that he runs off.

Flaky smiles softly as she feels herself gain some new found energy. The first actual exchange she had, had since arriving here- somehow it made her feel lighter, happier... Or at least as much as one can be in combat training. By the time that Flaky has finished her laps, she knows that she has taken too long. Far, far too long. Soldiers are already leaving the mess hall, having finished their dinners.

Flaky walks to the entrance, dejected. General Feisty waits for her, his arms are crossed over his chest and he does not look amused in the slightest. "You- Flaky. Dinner started half an hour ago and it ended ten ago!" He barks. Flaky feels tears in her eyes but she forces them back, instead she slumps her shoulders and lowers her head. "Sorry, sir..." She mutters. "You-!" He starts but his voice softens moments later. Flaky's eyes go wide in confusion and she looks up, her brown eyes meeting his. "You... I-" The general starts, his face looks sad- conflicted even. His voice drops three octaves, his eyes staring straight at her. "I know where Flippy is-..." He starts.

Flaky's heart skips a beat and then beats too fast. "Flippy? You- you know? Where- no-is he okay? Please!" Flaky starts, her voice hysterical at the news. "He's fine but..." General Feisty starts, his eyes no longer on her but behind her instead.

Flaky turns, hope filling her that this would be a romance novel scenario and that he would be behind her but her goes are immediately dashed when she turns to see a broad shouldered man, also clad in the same military uniform as everyone else. General Feisty strides past her, his shoulder lightly brushing hers. "Don't talk about him- I've already said too much.." He whispers before walking with the other man away from her. "This is the only exception that I will ever make, go have dinner and then to bed. You've done enough for today." He says before leaving.

Flaky stands there for a while, staring at absolutely nothing as her head feels with questions. After a few minutes she turns on her heel, walks back to the track and begins the seventeen laps that she owed.

...

From a distance, General Feisty watches as Flaky runs her extra laps. She was the only one of her unit to not have finished in time. A small ghost of smile graces his lips as he sees her do the exact laps he had told her that she didn't have to do.

From behind him a hand is placed on his shoulder and that ghost of a smile vanishes. General Feisty turns, his expression solemn. The other person raises a finger to their lips, a silent gesture that the General knows the exact meaning of. He nods, salutes and walks to his tent.

Before he goes inside he takes one last look to the track where Flaky is still running. "You're just like Flippy described..." He mutters, then he disappears into his tent and zips it up.

**[A/N]**

**Sorry that this chapter sort of sucks, I'm trying to progress the storyline without taking any realism nor making it too slow- which was harder than I had thought it would be. I also didn't want to give away too much, too soon which just made mattera worse so I'm sorry if this story is a bit boring right now. **

**Another apology to the author's who's OC's I usedhave might have gotten their characters wrong and for that I am sorry. **

**I would like to give a special thanks to:  
Broken and Grim Ruin  
ReikolovesHK2 **

**For the reviews and favourites, it really means a lot to me!**

**Another special thanks to:  
The-Time-Travelling-Hippie  
ReikolovesHK2  
Broken and Grim Ruin  
For the use of their OC's, they are all wonderful characters so thank you!**

**Also, a special thanks to the United States where most of my views come from!**

**Finally, thank you to everyone else who even bothers to read this story! I promise that I'll actually have some story development soon, for now I'm just setting things up so please bear with me!**

**I might post up some pictures of the characters so that you guys can get a better idea of that they look like, again- sorry to the author's who's OC's I am using if what I draw isn't an accurate visual of your character. Once the pictures are posted, feel free to send me any comments you might have on them.**

**Until the next chapter! Bye, bye Lovies~ **


	4. Chapter 4: Reasonings

The next morning Flaky's legs felt as though they had been lit on fire. She could barely feel them and when she had first woken up she nearly screamed when she couldn't feel them...then the pain came in a wave and she really _did_ cry out.

Her assigned tent was rather small, it had a small cot and a dresser for her clothes and other belongings. Above the dresser is a mirror with a large crack running through the middle of it. There was enough room to walk around- as long as you don't plan to walk far. Flaky estimated that it was about 5 metres by 5 metres... Maybe less. Sitting with her legs over the side of her "bed" Flaky waits until her legs regain feeling.

Getting up slowly, Flaky peers outside and realises that it's still dark outside. She sighs and zips up her tent again. Going inside, Flaky takes a look in the mirror and let's her eyes absorb her familiar features. The same brown eyes, same pale face, same everything. Tentatively, she reaches up and brushes her fingers through her hair. A few flakes of dandruff fall from her head but then nothing. It was as though it had all disappeared when she cut her hair off. She didn't like it. She missed her long hair, it felt as though she weren't the same person anymore...it was as though joining the army, despite how brief the time was, had changed her. Flaky turns away from the mirror, a sigh escaping from her lips. She walks over to the dresser and changes out if her pyjamas and into her training clothes. Pulling her barrette onto her head, Flaky grabs her dog tags from the top of the dresser and stares at them. Sitting down on her cot, Flaky reaches into her suitcase and pulls something out, cradling it in her hand for a moment she stares at it lovingly before holding it to her heart. They were Flippy's dog tags. The very ones that he had given her right before he was shipped off for war. The very ones he had worn when he too, had been in training camp- same as her, now.

Sliding the tag off of the chain, she hangs it with her dog tags and puts the necklace around her neck.

Flaky takes another peek outside and much to her disappointment the sun is still not out, she guesses that it's about two in the morning- maybe three. Tying up the laces of her combat boots, Flaky steps outside of her tent and peers around the base.

Not a single soul in sight- of course.

Flaky takes a glance at the running track and grimaces, instead she walks toward the field and drops to the ground. If she was going to be in the army, she may as well be fit for it. Flaky starts pumping her arms up and down into a set of push-ups.

"What're you doing?" A voice from above her asks. Flaky stops, rolling over so she is sitting, she looks up to meet a pair of bright emerald eyes. "Um...you're-" Flaky ravages her brain for the name of the black and green haired girl. "T-Tweak?" She asks. The girl, Tweak, looks down at her, the girl's head tilted slightly to the side making her twin tails shift along with the weight of her head. Flaky notices that Tweak is still wearing her pyjamas which consist of a plaid, purple cotton shirt and matching flannel bottoms. "You never answered my question, what're you doing?" Tweak asks again. Flaky laughs nervously, scratching the back of her head reluctantly. "I'm uh- tr-training, I guess?" She replies. "Why?" Tweak asks, sitting next to Flaky on the grass. "I- well, I want to be stronger- I guess.." Flaky responds, thoughts of Flippy filling her head. "Why do you want to be stronger?" Tweak asks, wrapping her arms around her knees and pulling them to her chest. Flaky leans back a little, resting her chin in her hands while she keeps her elbows on her knees. "I- I have someone I need to find.." Flaky starts, her voice growing soft with emotion. "Why're you here?" Flaky asks instead of continuing, feeling a bit uncomfortable explaining so much about herself. Tweak looks sidelong at her, opens her mouth and then shuts it. "Because there was no other choice." Tweak says, her voice cracking a little at the last part. Flaky starts to say something but then stops herself, feeling that if she asked any further questions it would be too personal.

"What're you two doing?"

Both Flaky and Tweak turns around to see General Feisty looming over them with a disapproving look on his face. "We're uh-" Tweak starts but is abruptly cut off "You two should be in your tents sleeping. If someone other than me had caught you then you would have been in big trouble." He says, his voice dripping with anger. "We're sorry sir, we won't let it happen again." Tweak says and Flaky gives her a thankful look, happy that she wasn't the one who had to talk. "If you understand then go-" Feisty barks, pointing in the direction of the tents. Flaky and Tweak nod, walking towards their respective tents. "B-b-bye, bye..." Flaky mutters, reluctantly waving goodbye to Tweak then slinking into her tent.

Flaky sighs, there was nothing to do now. She didn't want to sleep, there was nothing interesting to do in the tent...she might as well go and brush her teeth.

Grabbing her toothbrush from a cup she placed atop her dresser the night before, Flaky leaves her tent to go to the designated female washroom just down the trail from her tent. Inside, it is cold and relatively bare. On one side there are three showers and mirroring it there are three toilets. From Flaky's knowledge there was seven buildings like this on the base, it just so happened that this one was the closest one to her.

After she has brushed her teeth and ran through her hair a few times with her fingers, Flaky steps back outside of the washroom building and sighs for what feels like the millionth time in those past few days.

Flaky smiles very softly at the sight of the the sun, glad that it finally decided to make an appearance. Striding across the base, Flaky watches as a man steps in front of the tents and raises a trumpet to his lips and then within moments the noise pierces through the morning air.

Unlike what she had thought, there was only one scream throughout the entire base and Flaky had a slight feeling that it was the blonde girl from the truck- Tiny. Walking towards the tents again, Flaky falls in line with the others as they groggily step out of their tents. Standing in line with their arms behind their back and their backs erect, Flaky's small unit waits for General Feisty to come.

Flaky glances out of the corner of her eye, down the line and can't help but notice that:

a) Dwight looks like he hasn't slept due to the fact that he has big bags underneath his eyes

b) Tweak is no longer in her pyjamas and in her actual training uniform

And finally:

c) that Ramses has his barrette on backwards and Flaky wonders if he is aware of it.

After a few minutes of standing in the cold, morning air General Feisty finally comes out of his own, much larger, tent and stands in front of them. "First things first, no one is to leave their tents unless they are going to the laboratory." He glances disapprovingly at Flaky and Tweak "second thing, we are starting with the obstacle course. Get your crap together and let's go. Anyone who fails to complete it within two minutes owes me three hundred push ups!" Feisty barks.

Although a lot of them must have wanted to, no one groans. Instead, they follow in the line behind the General towards the obstacle course and prepare for a _long_ day of training.

...

Twelve hours and hundreds of push-ups later, Flaky's little unit is allowed to get off for dinner. She sits beside Riddles and Ramses, Tweak, Tiny and Dwight sitting across from them. They eat in silence for a little while but that is quickly disturbed by Riddles. "So- um... Why did you guys join the army?" He asks, his mouth half full with mashed potatoes. Everyone, at least the ones at their table, turn to look at him. "I wanted to fly. Army seemed like a good choice." Dwight says, spooning in another mouthful of peas. "My country needed me." Tiny mutters, her face red as though she were embarrassed by her answer. Riddles smiles at the two answers, obviously it was more than he was even expecting to get. With his eyes brimming with curiosity and a childish excitement, Riddles looks at the other three, waiting for their answers. "I-I'm looking for someone..." Ramses starts, his voice low and husky. Now all eyes were on the black haired boy, wanting him to elaborate. "I- I'm just looking for someone that I used to know-... That's all..." He says, suddenly incredibly interested in his food tray. "I-I know what you mean." Flaky starts, her eyes glued to the man. "I-I'm looking fo-for someone t-t-too..." She says, her sentence trailing off as she stares at her lap. When she looks up again we eyes briefly lock with Ramses before they both avert their gazes. "I-I came because I-" Tweak starts, she stops to sigh before finishing "I didn't- I-" Tiny looks at her, head tilted as she places a hand on the other girl's shoulder. "You don't have to tell us if it makes you uncomfortable." Tiny tells the other girl. Tweak nods, eyes downcast and for a moment Flaky thinks that's the end of it but is proven otherwise when Tweak says "I came because there was no other way out."

The table grows quite into an uncomfortable silence as everyone picks at their meals, their eyes on anything but each other. "Well- um, I'm here because my parents signed me up...they thought it was a good way for me to finally toughen up! Haha...ha..." Riddles starts, trying to bring the good mood back but when that proves futile he stops talking as well and finishes eating.

When they finish, everyone in Flaky's unit mutters a gruff "goodbye" or a "see you guys tomorrow" to each other before leaving the mess hall to return to their tents. Flaky follows pursuit and after brushing her teeth she returns to her tent and changes into her pyjamas.

If she thought that she was sore after the laps from yesterday then right now she was dying. After repeated attempts at climbing the rope ladders, scuttling underneath the barbed wires and swinging on ropes, Flaky could barely force herself to stay sitting up. Lying back into her cot, Flaky stares for a long time at her dog tags which rattle against each other whilst dangling in the air. She stares at the one that reads "Flippy", she also stares at the one that she received from the government that reads "M.I.A" underneath his name. The one with her name on it clangs against the others, the only sound that Flaky can even hear inside of her tent.

After a while, her eyes start to grow heavy and she places the tags beside her pillow- just by her head. Now she could also hear the pitter, patter of rain on the roof of her tent which lulls her to sleep like a mother's voice to a babe.

Curling up into her thin blanket, Flaky drifts off to sleep- unaware of the hardships that tomorrow will bring with it.

**[A/N]**

**Two chapters in one day? Well- that's new for me. Usually I'm such a lazy bum that I can't even manage to get one a day- my god, what am I doing with my life, haha. **

**Well, some of the OC's got a bigger part this chapter- at least, morpaso than others. I promise that the other OC's will receive their larger part in the following chapters, as stated last chapter I am facing thsee first few chapters to set things up and allow the story so have a decent starting place. Also, it's better to have a decent grasp on what the characters are like earlier on in the story-... At least, that's what I think.**

**Thanks to anyone and everybody who reads my story, I really appreciate each and every one of you! I'm still accepting OC's although by this point they'll have to appear in later chapters. I still hope you guys send them in though, I love the uniqueness of OC's and greatly enjoy working with the. So- yeah... I'll stop rambling now. **

**Thanks again to you all for reading and I'll see you all again next chapter! **


	5. Chapter 5: Appearence

Flaky wakes with a scream at the sharp sound of the trumpet. Her brow caked in a cold sweat as she vaguely recalls a nightmare from the night before.

Something about a forest? Maybe it was actually something about a circus? What exactly the dream was Flaky could not recall but whatever it was had left her heart racing and tendrils of terror clawing at her heart.

Swiftly swinging her legs over the side of the bed, Flaky stretches her aching arms above her head and lets out a soft hum. With that done, Flaky stands up and crosses her small tent to the wooden dresser and pulls the top drawer open. Yanking her military uniform out, she hastily rips at the buttons on her pyjama shirt.

From outside, Flaky hears a zipper rip down and boots on the rock.

She was running late.

Pulling up her pants and stuffing her feet into her combat boots, Flaky doesn't even bother to tie them up before dashing out of her tent and races into the line where Dwight gives her an odd look but says nothing. Her cheeks flush with embarrassment and Flaky yanks her barrette on to try and hide it.

"Attention!" General Feisty barks and immediately all eyes are on him. "Today we will be starting with laps. Ten of them to be exact before we begin our first day of weapons training. Now start! Last one to finish has to do an extra!"

Needless to say, they start running without a word or thought of complaint. This was what they signed up for...right?

Flaky, just as last time trails a decent chunk behind the others. Her only accomplishment was that she was just barely ahead of Riddles as they ran. Towards the front were Dwight and Ramses who seemed to have made a sort of contest on who could finish first without actually using up all their energy. Then behind those two was Tiny who seemed to be going at a good pace although Tweak was catching up pretty quickly.

Ducking her head a little, Flaky pumps her arms faster which forces her legs to move slightly faster as well. She manages to make that small distance between herself and Riddles remarkably larger and the strain in her legs were beginning to die down...so long as her legs going numb could be considered an improvement. She tries to focus on something else: her shoes, her shadow, the base- anything to take her mind off of how tired she was getting already. Running off of two meals in the last three days was really starting to take its toll on her.

Hazel eyes scanning the training base, Flaky watches as Tweak stumbles while she is running- her arms jerking to regain balance. She watches as Dwight's pace slows down for a moment thus allowing Ramses to get the two step lead. She watches the other units work their way through the obstacle course and do their sets of push-ups.

She giggles when on of the trainees try to climb the rope ladder and gets their foot caught, making their fall that much funnier as they dangle helplessly. A flash of green flashes across her field of vision for a moment and in a confused state, Flaky stumbles- tripping over her own feet. Catching herself and continuing with her jogging pace, Flaky looks around to make sure that no one saw that little dizzy spell. Her eyes meet with Ramses from across the track, who looks away quickly after.

Flaky turns her head to make sure that it didn't hurt too badly before picking up pace. The faster she could get these laps done the better.

A flash of green crosses her vision again but this time she doesn't stumble, she runs blindly until her sight comes back just hoping she doesn't trip or run into anything.

Maybe she should consider eating more-... Or popping by the first aid tent when she got a chance.

Flaky ended up finishing her laps second to last. Surprisingly the last person to finish wasn't Riddles but Tiny who had tripped and ended up lagging too far behind to catch up. She felt bad for the small girl, especially seeing how torn up her knees and pants had gotten after she had fallen.

"Eyes forward!" General Feisty barks, the unit having gotten back into their line up as Tiny finished her extra laps "We will now be going to the shooting range. I know I do not have to tell you to be reasonable. That means no horsing around with the artillery, eyes and attention on the instructor at all times and absolutely no one is to take the weapons with them when we leave! Understood?" "Sir, yes, sir!" Their unit drones, saluting their commanding officer as was stationary. Feisty turns, making a place for himself at the head of the line, "Then let's go!"

...

As it turned out, Flaky was better than she thought she would be with handling guns. She had managed to get two bullseye's on the still shots and just barely missed perfect on the moving ones. She was feeling rather proud of herself, having received a far greater result than what she had expected.

The instructed was another General, he was a bigger man with incredibly sharp eyes. His sandy blonde hair was cropped short and mostly hidden underneath his barrette, his eyes were blue and unnerving and incredibly cold. In all honesty he was so intimidating that Flaky was trembling before she had even touched any of the weapons! His name was General Shadow and Flaky assumed that he had been in his fair share of wars...maybe more than fair considering how he screamed at them whenever they made even the tiniest of mistakes.

He did not tolerate any mistakes.

Her unit as it turned out, as a whole was fairly strong when it came to long range shooting as it turned out. Riddles, as it turned out, was the strongest when it came to long range shots. He had managed to get quite a few bullseye's and he was able to assemble and de-assemble his sniper faster than Flaky has even imagined possible. Ramses also proved to be quite a shot, he was able to knock down every moving target in his stall- not perfectly but close enough that they would crash to the ground loudly.

After the snipers, they worked with pistols and close range shots. Much to her disgust, they were taught about where to shoot on the body for quick kills and where to shoot for wounds. This is where she had struggled, using a sniper and hitting targets with one shot was easier than imagining killing someone close enough to see their dying eyes. Tweak and Tiny had proven best with this, Flaky wondered partially when they had, had to shoot the moving targets on the obstacle course if it was easier for them because they were smaller. Her theory was made stronger when she had noticed how the boys were struggling to duck underneath the bars and pillars.

The last thing they had worked with were knives, this was something that Tweak and Dwight were excellent at. Tweak had turned out to be great with wielding them, Flaky felt bad already for any soldiers who would have to go against her in close range battle. Dwight was strong with both long range knife throwing and handling the sniper, he was going to be a strong long distance soldier. Riddles would be a great sniper, having proven inept at anything except but that. That left Ramses and Tiny who seemed to be wonderful all around fighters, they would make great patrols-men and first linesmen. That left Flaky, she was moderate with her weapons and most likely would thrive well in the same position as Tiny and Ramses.

Working with the knives, even seeing them had immediately made Flaky think of Flippy. Not because of all the times that he had flipped out and killed her with one of these but because of how proud he had been of the one he had owned. He had told her countless stories of his time in the army and loads of the time there were tales of how he had just escaped death with nothing but his trusted Bowie knife.

"You may keep the Bowie knife that you are currently holding, any news of Tom foolery with the weaponry will result in immediate disqualification from the military." General Shadow says, during his last few moments of training them with the weaponry. Flaky smiles at that, noticing that his voice had gotten softer when he had said that.

She felt just, that much closer to Flippy. Not just from having the knife but by the thought that he had been here- in this exact military, training base, doing the exact same things as she was doing just then. It felt nice being here- closer to him despite the lack of his actual presence.

It made her long for him.

As they are leaving the shooting range, Flaky feels an arm on his elbow- holding her back. "Private-" General Shadow starts, looking straight at her with his blizzard eyes. "Yes sir?" Flaky asks tentatively, holding her hands to her chest to try and calm her savage heartbeat. "Stop now. Finding him will not be a blessing but a nightmare." He mutters, making sure that his voice is low enough for only her to hear her. Her eyes shoot wide open, breath hitching in her throat as she hears this. "Wha-?" Flaky starts, voice coming out in shudders but she doesn't have time to finish her question before she called away by General Feisty. "Good luck." Shadow says, letting go of her arm so she may join her unit.

Flaky walks away quickly, dashing to catch up to her group.

What had General Shadow been talking about? Why did it seem that finding Flippy would be next to impossible? Why- why did it seem as though finding him would be much more painful than not knowing where he was?

The rest of the day seemed to go by in a blur, nothing making any sense nor retaining any importance. She couldn't even remember if she had eaten dinner by the time that they are sent away for bed.

So she was in no way prepared for what was to come next.

When she had stepped into her tent, Flaky's entire body ached. Her legs wobbled, her her arms were numb and it felt like knives were being plunged into her chest every time that she tried to inhale. Even moving her fingers hurt and that was truly saying something. As her eyes rested on the interior of her tent, her chest was too constricted to scream.

He looked just as she remembered him.

His lime green hair is exposed due to him having his barrette crushed in his fingers. His eyes are downcast, humongous black bags hanging from beneath them. He has a very similar military uniform to the one that she is currently wearing, although his is adorned with various medals and is far more worn down due to the years.

Flaky falls back, half outside of the tent as her breathing becomes ragged and tears pool in her eyes. "Y-you...!" She starts, allowing the tears to fall down the sides of her face freely. "Flip-F-Flippy?" She asks incredulously, her entire voice filled with absolute disbelief at his sudden appearance.

She felt like she was floating, like this was all a dream.

If it was actually a dream, may it never end.

He turns to look at her, eyes going wide to match hers with an expression of equal surprise and relief. Flippy stands up, dropping his barrette which lands at his feet with a soft thud. His lip twitches, halfway between a frown and a smile- as though his emotions were too conflicted to know which to do.

When he speaks, his voice comes out in a husky, confused whisper:

"Flaky?"


	6. Chapter 6: Puzzle pieces

It's as though her legs are glued to the floor. Flaky cannot move, cannot speak- even her thoughts were in complete chaos.

She doesn't need to do anything as it seems because within mere seconds, Flippy is already across the small tent and holding her tightly. "It really is you..." He mutters into her shoulder, his voice is soft and a lot lighter than she remembered but then again, he was real. He was real and alive and her memories of him had done no justice to the real thing. Flaky wraps her arms tentatively around his larger frame, holding onto him tightly in fear that if she didn't he would disappear again. "Flaky, what are you doing here?" He asks, easing up on the embrace and pulling back so he can look at her properly. "I- You..." Flaky starts, her words barely audible and hardly making any logical sense. "I was- I- I was looking for you..." Flaky manages to choke out, wiping away at the tears staining her face. "I- I got a note...it said- it said you weren't coming back and I-" She cuts off abruptly, burying her face into his jacket to stop her tears. "Note?" Flippy echoes, holding onto her tightly. She detects confusion in his voice which in turn makes her look at him with an equal expression of astonishment. "Y-you- didn't you send it?" She asks, gulping shortly after. Flippy says nothing, absolutely nothing as he tightens his hold onto her. "Flippy? H-hey.." She chokes out, loosening her grip on him. He reluctantly lets go, although his fingers remain hovering near her waist as he leans back so he can rest his forehead against hers. His eyes flutter shut, a soft sigh escaping him. Flaky's lips curl into a ghost of a smile as she inhales deeply through her nose. After a few minutes, Flippy pulls away completely- retracting his hands from around her and resting them firmly at his sides.

His smile then was rather crooked, his entire expression a wild mix of disappointment, distress, love, confusion and longing. "Oh Flaky..." He sighs, reaching forward to brush a strand of stray hair away from her face. His leather gloves tickle her cheek as he does this, making her smile very faintly. "When- when did you get here?" Flaky asks. Flippy looks around, his eyes scanning the small tent and the world outside for anyone else but the entire base is empty- save for the one straggler heading to the bathroom. "I- I can't say... I-" Flippy starts, his entire body tensing as he looks around frantically. "I'm sorry, I'm really sorry-" he suddenly says, he leans forward and places his lips lightly onto her forehead. "You need to get out of here- you need to.." He let's his sentence hang as he bites nervously on his bottom lip. "Flippy what-" Flaky starts but he cuts her off with a finger to her lips. "I- I can't explain, not right now- not here. I'm sorry Flaky- You need to get out of here, the army..the army is not for you. It's not for someone as kind and innocent as you..." He cuts off again, making a low sound of annoyance under his breath. "I need to go- I'm sorry Flaky, I can't explain right now-" he kisses her again, this time on the lips.

He tastes of blood.

Giving her a rueful look he whispers something to her before he leaves the tent. Flaky stares after him for a few appalled moments before she gets up and rushes outside. She opens her mouth so that she can call for him to come back but he was gone just as quickly as he had come. The only sound in the deserted camp is the faint howl of wolves in the far off distance.

_"I'm so sorry Flaky..."_

...

"Hey- are you okay?" Ramses asks, he looks at her with a concerned expression as his fork hovers mere centimetres over his eggs. Flaky looks at him will brain dead eyes, unmoving and completely cut off from the rest of the world.

"Huh?" She asks dumbly, shaking her head slightly to clear her clouded thoughts. "I said- are you okay?" Ramses asks again, taking in a mouthful of hash browns. Flaky stares at him for a second, processing the question before startling back to reality. "Huh? Oh- um...yeah, yes! I mean...yes, I'm alright..." Flaky says, averting her eyes and pushing her breakfast away. Her appetite suddenly gone.

Questions reeled in her head on an infinite loop. Why had Flippy suddenly shown up? Was it a dream? How did he know which tent was hers? What had he been so nervous about? Where did he go? Why did he go?

The thing that bothers her the most is that the dots were finally starting to connect. Like a puzzle, each piece slowly finding its place in the complete equation.

_"Finding him_ _will not be a blessing but a nightmare."_

General Shadow's words haunt her thoughts, wondering if those words could possibly be connected with Flippy's peculiar behaviour from the previous night.

"Private! Where is your head?" General Feisty barks, snapping Flaky out of her reverie. When she looks around she is no longer in the mess hall but is now out on the obstacle course, she looks down at the General from the top of the rope ladder with a dull expression. Realising what is happening, Flaky hurriedly climbs down the ladder- joining her unit as quickly as possible whilst feeling more than a little embarrassed at her absentmindedness.

The rest of the day is equally as uneventful, nothing out of the ordinary, nothing to take note of. Flaky constantly looks around, eyes searching for Flippy but to no avail. The green haired soldier is nowhere to be seen.

The only good thing was that this was the end of their introduction training and tomorrow would be the beginning of red phase. Only two more phases after that, her conclusion training and then she would be done. Although she wonders about what Flippy had said, about her quitting. She thinks about it, if she should actually quit- but she had come so far! She had found him...or he had found her but either way, she was getting so close- too close to give up!..right?

"Hey- you've been spacing out all day. Are you okay? Do you need to go to the first aid tent?" Dwight asks.

Flaky looks down for a moment; expecting to be back up on the rope ladder but when she sees nothing other than her lap, Flaky gasps in confusion. She looks up to find that she is back in the mess hall, in front of her is a tray of soup, toast and chicken strips. Dwight is sitting beside her, looking at her with concern. "I uh- maybe I should go...to the f-first aid tent..." Flaky stammers, hanging her head in embarrassment. Dwight nods and helps her up out of her seat, he begins leading her to the first aid tent with an arm on her shoulder for security.

"Um...Unit 42's Dwight.." She hears him say from the other side of a curtain. Flaky doesn't remember lying down, in fact she doesn't even remember entering the tent. She lays back, letting her eyes fall shut. "Unit 42's Flaky...yes, she isn't feeling well.." Dwight says, his voice softer than it was a few seconds ago. "Thank you, you can.." Another voice says, their voice decreasing in volume as they talk until their is no sound at all. Their voice sounds a little like Flippy's- but then again, right now- everything reminded her of him.

Flaky feels light as air as she slowly drifts off to sleep.

_When she wakes up she isn't in the first aid tent. She is at home, her room's familiar surroundings filling her eyes. Downstairs she can hear the familiar sound of Flippy humming as he makes breakfast, the smell of bacon literally everywhere along with the slight burnt scent with it. Flaky smiles, cuddling into her blankets as she waits for Flippy to come and wake her as he usually did. She feels someone shake her, gently pushing her shoulder to wake her up. She groans, swatting lightly at their hand. "A few more minutes... Please, Flip?" She grumbles, rolling over and pulling her pillow over her head._

It scares her for a moment when the voice she hears isn't Flippy's.

"Sorry, but that's the wrong name." Ramses says. Flaky groggily opens her eyes to see that she isn't at home. She is still in the first aid tent with bright streaks of sunlight coming through crevices of the tent. Ramses is sitting at the foot of the bed, watching her with curious eyes. "It's time to wake up." He informs her, getting up. Flaky looks around, confused for minute. "Wh-" she clears her throat, "what happened?" Ramses adjusts his barrette, not looking at her as he speaks. "You were out of it so Dwight brought you here." He stops for a moment before adding, "you were asleep for a day and a half." Flaky stares at him before sitting up, hurriedly tugging on her boots. "I- I need to get back, back to training- I need to-!" She starts but Ramses cuts her off. "Stop- stop. General Feisty wanted me to tell you to come at your own pace." He tells her. His voice softens as he smiles lightly at her. "So no need to worry." He says. Flaky nods, watching as he makes his way out of the tent.

She stares at the tent's opening for a long time before she finishes tying her boots and rejoins her unit.

...

Flippy pulls aside the curtain a little so that he can watch as Flaky leaves. The doctor, rolls his eyes and continues bandaging up his arm.

"You know you'll have to hide again soon, right?" The doctor, Dr. Knotty, says. Flippy nods, letting go of the curtain once Flaky has disappeared from view. He watches instead as Dr. Knotty wraps up his arm, wincing only once when he wraps the gauze too tightly.

Dr. Knotty was a lanky man, his deep purple hair falling slightly into his eyes as he works. His eyes are a stormy, dark blue which are shielded by a set of thick round glasses. He is missing his index finger on his left hand while on his right he has his ring finger half severed.

Like Flippy, Knotty had been in quite a few wars- he had even been around when General Tiger had been around. If anyone in the army, Knotty was one of the few people he could trust...they were once in the same unit way back when.

"There you go, all done." Dr. Knotty says, letting Flippy shrug his jacket back on and test his newly bandaged arm out. Flippy, shrugs, twirling his arm in circles to test it's function ability. "You should get out of here, Flip." Dr. Knotty says, drying his hands after having washed the blood from them. "Yeah, yeah.." Flippy says dismissively. He adjusts his gloves and then his barrette. "I'll be off then-" he tells Dr. Knotty, sneaking to the back entrance of the tent. "Why're you sneaking around in the first place? I thought everyone knew the situation you were in by now.." The doctor says. Flippy grins, his eyes betraying him however and filling with a deep sorrow. _"Remember? I work for the other team now."_ He says grimly, highly contrasting with the arrogant grin etched across his face. Flippy gives Knotty a small, two finger salute and with that he is gone.

Dr. Knotty shakes his head disapprovingly, a slight chuckle escaping him as he turns away from the exit and to the scalpels in desperate need of cleaning instead. "Good luck with that one, lad." He mutters.


	7. Chapter 7: Insight

Ever since her little incident with the first aid tent, Flaky was put under a strict rule that she was to record all and any food/water income. She was also put under surveillance dying meal times to make sure she was properly eating her food and not lying about how much she was actually consuming.

She was also given medicine, apparently it was supposed to make up for any lacking vitamins and help her with sleeping issues that she might have. She was also put under surveillance to make sure she was properly taking these pills. Flaky didn't mind however, not too much anyways. She mostly just wondered how much longer it would be until her unit would move past red phase and into white. She figured it wouldn't be too long since training was only supposed to last ten weeks and it had already been two.

It had been about three days into red phase and already Flaky could see the impact that the military was having on the members of her unit. Riddles was more built now, his lanky figure slowly disappearing into a thin layering of muscles. Ramses and Dwight were both much more sturdy looking, Dwight no longer had bags underneath his eyes and he seemed to be filling out nicely. Tweak was still small but she looked fiercer. Her gaze was much more confident and haughty. Flaky had to admit the look suited her well. Tiny was the only one who didn't seem to change as much, she was still small and still frail but she stood a little taller, unafraid of the things which would have terrified her before they joined.

The unit was finally starting to come together.

Meal times weren't spent with awkward conversations or long silences, they were happy times where they could wind down and just have friendly talks with each other.

Flaky found out that Dwight was actually a pilot, he had joined with hopes of being able to function a helicopter. It was a nice thought, really. She could easily imagine the older man in a helicopter, light brown hair tucked underneath a pilot's helmet.

She also learnt what both Tweak and Ramses had meant when they had first discussed why they had all joined the military. It was a nice way to grow closer, she felt more trusted and that she too could put her faith in them.

Ramses had joined because he, like her, was looking for someone. He was looking for his former girlfriend, Angel. He couldn't remember what she looked like so that was why he had asked her if that was her name when they had first met. It made Flaky feel very sorry for the man, especially since his voice had filled with such a sorrowful longing whilst explaining this to her.

Tweak had joined because of some very unfortunate circumstances. When she explained the story to her, Tweak had shown Flaky a small locker and inside- much to her surprise- was a picture of Shifty. The very same little thief whom had once been killed by Flippy when he had tried to rob the veteran. She was there because she wanted to die.

It broke Flaky's heart.  
It also made her want to slug Shifty in the nose for breaking Tweak's heart as he had done.

Riddles was a general, I was signed up so here I am, sort of ordeal but he seemed so horrified by the thought of actually killing someone that it made Flaky worry for him. How could he be a soldier if he couldn't kill- even to defend himself?

Tiny was a very similar situation, she was such an easily influenceable girl and she was already plagued with so many hardships, Flaky felt bad for the girl. This war would just give her one more thing to have night terrors about.

The sad thing was, their unit wouldn't remain just _their_ unit. Once they were sent off to war they would be separated, not by the government or the battlefield but by _death._

Flaky hated the thought of that.

Once in red phase, they had trained extensively with various sorts of weapons and when it became clearer who excelled with what, they were given in depth training with just those things.

Ramses, Tiny and Tweak were great at all around work. With their speed and strength they were able to take down any and all training dummies with absolute ease. Flaky could easily imagine them on the front lines, guns ready with absolute determination.

Dwight and Riddles were still the best with long range weaponry. Riddles was a powerful shot when it came to the sniper and as long as it was within the weapons range, it was a goner. Dwight too was amazing when it came to long distance, although rather than a sniper he seemed to excel with the machine gun. Flaky could easily imagine him wielding one from inside a helicopter.

As an overall their unit was incredibly strong but also very small. Out of all the units in training camp, theirs was one of the smallest. The only other group that could rival them was unit 27 whom had four soldiers within it. Two less than their group.

It had already been noted that unit 27 would be merged with theirs, just so that their unit could become a moderately normal size.

They were to join before they entered white phase.

Flaky hadn't had a chance to interact with anyone outside of her unit, which wasn't too much of a surprise considering that they never really received much time to talk with each other.

It didn't matter to her though, all she really needed to focus on was finding Flippy. She would always search for him unconsciously, letting her eyes wander in hopes of finding his familiar green hair or his eyes, even his smile. She would always listen for his voice, or his boots on the gravel- even though she knew that after their very brief reunion she would not be seeing him again so easily.

She missed him.  
She wholeheartedly missed him. Even more so now than before. Knowing he was alive made her want to see him, made her want to hold onto him and not let go.

"Private! I will not tell you again! Stop daydreaming around the artillery!" General Feisty barks, his entire face flushed with rage.

Flaky shakes her head, startled by the suddenly outburst. She nearly drops the gun in her hand but manages to maintain a firm grip on its handle. "Daydreaming there, porcupine?" Dwight asks, a smile on his lips as he chuckles at her. "Oh- h-hush!" Flaky replies, cheeks red with embarrassment. She turns to the General, clearing her throat before she calls "My deepest ap-apologies, sir!" She the. returns her focus to the task at hand. She cocks the gun, placing it at eye level- an arms length away, then shoots.

Ten metres away a small target shatters, sending shards of small glass crashing to the ground. Flaky smiles, pleased with her own handiwork.

The sounds of gunfire didn't scare her as it once had. Neither did the sight of knives or blood, it alarmed her that in the short amount of time she had been here she had changed so much but then again, it also made her a little bit happy. She never liked how timid she was before and now, even if it was only by a little, she was growing braver.

Was this what Flippy has meant when he said that the army would change her? No- when he had said it he sounded genuinely scared for her, like the change would be some sort of horrible thing that would scar her for life...

Flaky reloads her gun as quickly as she can, cocks it back and then fires it again. Across the range, several of the targets shatter as had the first one.

**[A/N]**

**So, this is kind of crappy chapter and for that I am sorry. I'll try post up another one later tonight to compensate for this trash. **

**Anyways, as you may or may not have seen I'm still in need of a few OC's for my story, to be part of the unit. I need three to he exact since I already have one who is just waiting for debut. **

**I'll stop bothering your guys with my idle chatter and will conclude with a thanks for anyone who has read and to all those whom have reviewed. Thank you all! Thank you very, very much! It truly warms my heart and I a cannot express how appreciative I am, especially because my self esteem isn't very good so my confidence in this story wasn't too high either. All of your kind words and support ante what keep me going, so thank you so much! **


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